Frequently Asked Questions:

What is all the hullaballoo about?

There is a groundswell of concern among your fellow veterinarians that the current system of accrediting veterinary medical schools has become harmful to the future well-being of the profession. The current system is in the process of review and we believe that the current system must be changed.

Why does the concern exist?

There are three primary areas of concern:

Economic – many veterinarians fear that the large numbers of new schools being opened, especially in the current soft economy, is creating an oversupply of veterinarians with resulting negative economic consequences for practitioners and the profession.

Academic – many of the new veterinary schools are being opened without veterinary teaching hospitals. In lieu of the expense involved in establishing teaching hospitals with research departments these colleges are instead using a "distributive model" where senior students complete their clinical training at a variety of private practices of varying quality. This is returning the profession to an apprenticeship model of training more appropriate to a trade than a scientific medical degree.

AVMA accreditation – The accrediting body in veterinary medicine is called the Council on Education and is according to regulation supposed to be completely independent form the AVMA. However, it has become clear that the Executive Board of the AVMA is deeply involved in setting the agenda for the Council on Education at the expense of pursuing the AVMA's core mission which is advocating for the interests of United States veterinarians.

How is the opening of new veterinary schools impacting the economic situation of veterinarians?

Many people are familiar with the plight the legal profession finds itself in where new young lawyers are finding it impossible too get jobs in the legal field and end up working at Starbucks. Increasingly this is happening in the veterinary profession. Salaries are flat and the debt to earnings ratio is the worst among medical professions a recent article in The New England Journal of Medicine showed. Even the legal profession recognizes that they are better off than veterinarians. Veterinarians ourselves, however, have been slow to admit to the reality of this problem. For more information see the following resources:

It seems like there are a lot of new Veterinary Schools opening or about to open, is this a concern?

Yes, very much so. After a period of about thirty years during which Western University was the only new veterinary school to open there has been a recent flurry of veterinary schools opening or about to open, as well as the UNAM veterinary school in Mexico gaining accreditation by the AVMA-Council on Education (COE). The existing veterinary schools have received less funding from their state governments and have responded by increasing class sizes. This means that there are many more veterinarians graduating every year than there were just a few years ago. This has already led to difficulty for new graduates getting jobs, and flat or falling starting salaries.

What is the problem with foreign and for profit schools and the distributive model of veterinary education?

Who accredits veterinary schools?

Veterinary medical programs are accredited by the AVMA-Council on Education (COE). The membership consists of at least five veterinary medical college faculty members; at least six private practitioners; one at-large member; one veterinary researcher; one public health veterinarian; and one non-private practice, non-academic veterinarian. Additionally, the COE appoints three public members. One Canadian veterinarian is appointed and funded by the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association. One voting member is appointed as an official representative of the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC).

What is wrong with the current system?

The AVMA-Council on Education (COE) is supposed to be independent from the AVMA. However, it is not independent. This leads to the potential for conflict of interest. The biggest conflict of interest that has resulted is that the AVMA is not free to fulfill its primary mission, which is to advocate for its membership

How Has the AVMA Failed its Members?

Due to a concern amongst the membership the AVMA convened a taskforce to look into the impact accrediting foreign schools had on the US veterinary market and its practitioners. However, no sooner had the taskforce convened its first meeting than the AVMA attorney issued an opinion that a discussion of the issue would be in violation of the Federal Trade Commission's regulations and might result in a lawsuit. It should be noted that the AVMA-Council on Education (COE) does not employ its own attorney, and is therefore dependent on the AVMA attorney's opinion. This demonstrates the lack of independence between the two entities. We question the validity of the AVMA attorney's opinion and believe it to be in error.

The AVMA's core mission is to advocate for the benefit of its membership. The AVMA has allowed itself to be caught up in the legal intricacies of school accreditation and is ignoring its core mission. It is the role of the AVMA-COE to worry about the accreditation and it is the AVMA's job to advocate for its membership.

There is Hope for Change! What Can You do NOW?

The opportunity for written comments has passed, but the hearing will be Dec 11. Watch for an email form us (sign up here) about informational resources like webinars on just exactly how the LCME is structured, and how the COE could be spun off into an indeoendent body using the NBVME as a model. Plus, we'll draw attention to alternatives to PLIT and provide live coverage of the upcoming AVMA Economic Summit!

On the table is the COE’s re-recognition as the sole accreditor of veterinary education in America. The harsh critique from USDE staff is remarkable for the AVMA COE, which has evaluated veterinary academia since the early 1950s.

AVMA and COE officials did not respond to VIN News Service requests for their perspective... Read more

Why the LCME is not enough for vet med - From JustVetData.com

To adequately accredit schools using such a model, we need to look to the ACGME- and probably the Joint Commission- as well as the LCME for specific features.
If we want veterinary accreditation to assure quality instruction, we're going to have to model all... Read more

Open Letter From Bob Marshak

Are you prepared to accept a continuing loss of respect- from fellow health professionals, agriculture, industry, and the public- as our formerly science based profession sees continuing accreditation of schools that produce maximum numbers of minimally educated entry-level graduates? ... Read more

Legal: Antitrust Concerns

Our antitrust attorneys reviewed AVMA's policies and procedures regarding accrediting foreign colleges and conducted a broad overview of how the US antitrust laws affect US trade associations. They then conducted in-depth research in several areas. First, they looked more closely at the principles applicable to antitrust liability for US trade associations in the context of group boycotts/refusals to deal. Next, they researched and analyzed case law involving the application of the US antitrust laws to accreditation organizations... and its progeny... Finally, they looked at the application of US antitrust laws to action on foreign soil. Read more